Elden Ring: What To Do After Beating Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy (2024)

After beating a major boss Elden Ring players are often presented with new paths to take and options to consider. For example, downing Godrick in Stormveil Castle leads players to Liurnia of the Lakes, and from here players can get all the way to the Altus Plateau and Mount Gelmir by bypassing the Dectus Lift.

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After beating Rykard, Elden Ring gives players three main things to do: use the Remembrance of the Blasphemous in some way, activate Rykard's Great Rune, and finish up areas before heading to Leyndell. There are hundreds of other things players can do instead of these options, but each of these paths leads directly from downing this Blasphemous Snake.

Choose What To Do With Remembrance of the Blasphemous

Like all major bosses in Elden Ring, Rykard drops a Remembrance that can be used one of two ways. Players can either consume the Remembrance of the Blasphemous for 50,000 Runes, or trade it with Enia for one of two items: the Blasphemous Blade or the spell Rykard's Rancor.

If you want both the Blasphemous Blade and spell, the Remembrance can be duplicated. Visit a Walking Mausoleum to make a copy of this Remembrance and head back to Enia to claim the second of Rykard's unique rewards.

Finish Up Volcano Manor, Then Head To Leyndell (or Beyond)

After beating Rykard players can no longer progress the Volcano Manor questline, but this implies that they did not finish the questline to reach Rykard in the first place. The Volcano Manor questline rewards players with a variety of neat armor sets, but as soon as their Lord is killed, the Letters from the Manor dry up entirely. For this reason, be sure to finish all of Volcano Manor's requests before taking on Rykard by taking the teleporter deep into the Legacy Dungeon.

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If you finished the Volcano Manor questline and didn't break out into the rest of the Volcano Manor, you can teleport directly to Rykard. However, there are a lot of things in and around Volcano Manor that make it worth checking out the Legacy Dungeon. To enter this area, break an invisible wall in one of the side rooms of the manor hall and continue to the Prison Town Site of Grace, the first in the larger area.

If you have already cleared Volcano Manor entirely, then beating Rykard only really leaves one path forward: Leyndell. If, somehow, Rykard is your first Great Rune, then a second needs to be collected to get into the capital. If you beat Rykard after facing Morgott and getting the Rold Medallion, then head to the Mountaintops of Giants to continue the main storyline.

Activate Rykard's Great Rune At The Divine Tower of West Altus

Players receive Rykard's Great Rune upon defeating the serpentine monstrosity, which has a similar effect to both the Taker's Cameo and the Blasphemous Blade. With this Great Rune activated by a Rune Arc, players restore 80 Health plus 7% of their Maximum Health every time an enemy dies nearby.

It seems to work even when players aren't responsible for the enemy's death, and the effect stacks with the aforementioned Talisman and armament to really maximize healing. To activate this Great Rune, head to the Divine Tower of West Altus, which can only be accessed after completing the Sealed Tunnel just southwest of the Leyndell Ramparts.

Elden Ring is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.

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